The Return
by artemisianfire
Summary: Albus Potter meets a siren who's locked up, underground. She lives only by the incantations that first bound her there, and she's been living for centuries. One of the Hogwarts founders first found her, and now Albus has-and he's desperately in love.
1. Chapter 1

The Potter household was as busy as always: Harry, the father, moving his sons along as they bustled down the stairway; Ginny lovingly brushing the young Lily Potter's red hair. James, always the boasting one, ranted on to Albus about the chronicles of his last year. He was now going on to his sixth year at Hogwarts, and he considered himself of the highest expertise regarding anything magic-related.

Albus neither seemed to be listening or interested. He was a thoughtful boy, with dark brown hair and almond eyes that were just like his father's—but the similarities stopped there. He had a rounder, softer face, and, unlike his father, did not have the spindly build Potters were known to have. In this sense, at least, he was like the Weasley side of the family.

When the family had finally gotten their bags ready, the car jammed with the childrens' suitcases, they set off. Harry, ever the wizard, enchanted the steering wheel to drive them to King's Cross itself.

King's Cross station was a common ground for muggles and wizards alike. Few of the people they met on the way were wizards, but those that were greeted the Potter family with open arms. They were a well-known family…perhaps the most in Wizarding history.

9 ¾ was as crowded as ever, all the magical people in London packing their suitcases into the open side of the Hogwarts Express. The Potter children hugged their parents, Lily Potter shaking off her mother's hands (which were hurriedly combing through her hair again) sulkily. She didn't like to be pampered over, for fear some of her fellow third years would see and tease her about it later on the train.

"Remind Mum to send me Gran's sweaters during Christmas," Albus said, giving his father a hug. "And Puffin—take care of Puffin—"

"I'll remember to tell Molly," Harry murmured kindly, picking up his son's suitcase and giving it a slight tug towards the train's loading area. "And I'll remind Mum to feed Puff those candies he liked."

Satisfied that his owl would be taken care of accordingly, the boy helped his father set his suitcase inside the loading rack; then, giving his father a wave, Albus hopped on the train and set off to look for Scorpius.

His best friend was always late, his nonchalant personality contradicting his parents' insistence on him being punctual. However, today, Albus found Scorpius lazily leaning against the window-glass in the nearest compartment, his ironed shirt and dress shoes making him look more proper than he truly was. He was already buried in a small pile of candy; though, to his credit, he hadn't opened most of them yet.

The green eyes immediately alighted on Albus, and they brightened visibly. "Albus!" He patted the seat across from him expectantly.

Grinning, Albus closed the compartment door and collapsed on the plush seat, pulling his wand out of the pockets of his jeans and leaning against the window pane too, his arm balanced on his knee. "Where are Teddy and Edward?"

Scorpius hissed in annoyance. "Bet they're flirting with that Rose again."

"Teddy has Victoire," Albus reminded him, thinking of the beautiful daughter of Fleur and Bill. "Edward, though…"

"Oh?" Scorpius snatched Albus' wand away and twirled it through his fingers, for lack of anything else to do, and raised one eyebrow lazily.

"Yes," Albus replied quickly, wanting to impress upon his friend that he knew a lot of this subject; the truth was, he had only heard whispered words between Hugo and Rose when the shy siblings had visited them just last week. "Edward's been sending Rose owls."

"No Howlers, I hope?" The other boy tossed the wand from one hand to the other. "After all, Longbottom's father's always had a sort of reputation with them."

"No Howlers," Albus scoffed; he was slightly disappointed that Draco was not taking this seriously, "It was a _love letter_. From _Edward_."

Malfoy coughed out a dry laugh. "Him? I'm surprised he can even hold a quill in those meaty hands of his." Albus laughed; Edward was a close friend of theirs, and Scorpius was prone to insulting people-he usually meant nothing by it.

A clattering at the doorknob of the compartment alerted Albus to Hugo's presence before he saw him; the pudgy boy, his glasses perched on the very bridge of his nose, pushed open the door with one hand. The boys inside immediately noticed the several large bags of Chocolate Frogs in Hugo's arms, and, pouncing, Albus and Scorpius each took one.

Hugo laughed, pushing up his spectacles before kicking the door closed again. He was a stout, chubby sort of boy, his eyes intelligent in a way a detective's was. Albus had always admired the way he kept himself on top of schoolwork; he himself had inherited his father's knack for forgetting things. Mrs. Granger was supposedly the highest ranking student at Hogwarts in Mr. Potter's year, and Albus had complete confidence that his friend would be the same.

Meanwhile, the subject in question had torn away his stiff suit jacket and thrown it on the floor, falling into the near-by seat and shoving a Chocolate Frog into his mouth.

It was on the Hogwarts Express that Albus's friends changed. Apart from the quiet, well-behaved children they seemed to be with their parents, on the Express they could let themselves be. Already Scorpius's ironed pants were wrinkled, and his shiny shoes scuffed along the edges. Edward was already disheveled in his own nature. Hugo would smudge his plain white shirt with chocolate marks. Albus, himself, began to feel himself laughing harder than he'd laughed for the past two months. It was different being with his friends than with family, he decided. With friends, it was laughing and jokes. With family, it was comfort and cooking.

 **Hey, MirroredPortals here. This is my first try at HP fanfiction, so I'd love it if you reviewed or favorited this! I've written fanfiction on Wattpad before, but I'm going to try for a change, and see which I like better.**


	2. Chapter 2

Mr. Longbottom had always been a close family friend—and he'd visited the Potters often, bringing his wife and son along. Lily had never felt much interest in the quiet, shy Simon; she didn't like the unsure aura he had about him.

But this summer, when the school year was about to start, something had changed. Simon had grown taller, more confident, and Lily had suddenly felt the strange sensation of her whole perception of someone changing in a heartbeat. No longer was Simon the boy she had disgust for, but someone she wanted to be closer to.

And so, when Lily had wriggled out of her mother's grasp, she immediately rushed to the closest compartment to the Express door—she knew that was where Simon and his friends always were.

But when she peeked through the window, apprehension rising in her gut, her throat tight with anticipation, she saw only the three other boys: Scorpius, Albus, and Hugo, the last people she wanted to see right now.

Lily crept away from the door. Maybe Simon was late. He always did have a lack of time management; it was something her grandmother had complained about often. She stepped through the train, swinging her heavy backpack with her. It was filled with the books she had started during the summer—books on self-defense, and combat. Lily was a strong believer in self-sustenance.

She found an empty compartment and was about to enter when something caught her eye. Something suspicious.

Simon was against the wall, his entire frame pressed against the side of the train. His wand was held loosely at his side, and his eyes were drawn to a familiar figure. Lily immediately recognized her.

"Si?"

The boy started when he heard her voice, and seemed to tense up even more. "Lily, what—er…What are you doing here?"

A stupid smile began creeping up her face, and Lily shook her head, baffled. "What are you creeping up on Rose for?"

Simon gulped visibly, not meeting her gaze. "N-nothing—"

"Lily?" Rose spun around. "Is that-Lily!"

Simon stammered nervously, pushing back against the wall, but Rose didn't pay any attention to him. Lily Potter was engulfed in a hug, her mind far away. She gave her friend a few awkward pats on the shoulder before gently pushing her away, her eyes still locked on Simon's.

He was on to something. And Lily had an inkling of what was up.

Hogwarts chugged into view soon enough, but it might have been just by Lily's reckoning. Her mind was still on Simon-but it always was, now. Simon, Simon, Simon. She felt, if she didn't think of him enough, he would stop thinking of her.

If he even thought of her.

Lily picked at her T-shirt, annoyed. Why was he so complicated?

"I'll never get Simon to like me," she muttered crossly, breathing a deep sigh and folding her arms over her chest. "Stupid Simon."

Rose, who lay sprawled across the compartment floor, a Muggle magazine in her hands, looked up. There were bits of Chocolate Frog on the paper, and she hurried to swipe them away, still watching Lily. "What?"

"Nuthin'." Lily grumbled, pushing herself further down the seat, until her spine was almost parallel to the seat bottom. "I just hate boys."

Rose laughed, and it was such a glorious sound that Lily jealously understood why Simon would like her. She was always so pretty, and smart, and kind—and here was Lily, with her unruly red hair and tiny stature and her less-than-special worth in school. "Who did what this time?"

"No one."

Her friend leaned forward, inching toward her on the carpet. "No, tell me."

Lily sighed. This was Rose's problem. She was always wanting to _know_ everything—and she was so good at getting it too. "Nothing. There's nothing to tell." She tore at the loose thread near her elbow, looking away from Rose's prying eyes. She could still feel her burning gaze on her face, and Lily turned away to avoid the creeping feel of it. "Really."

There was silence for many seconds. Lily had just gathered the courage to look back up, when Rose pushed herself up, leaning against the bench. Her head leaned back, and her eyes gazed up at her, squinting. Suspicious.

Lily held her breath.

Rose tilted her head and scooted forward. Her eyes narrowed further.

Lily's breaths became heavier, heaving. She wondered if Rose could hear her heartbeats, or see her blushing—that would all give it away. Give everything away.

Then, shrugging, Rose sat back again. "Fine."


End file.
